His Gospel is Worthy of Our Fullest Attention
Yourself agrees 10,000 years from now.
God Himself comprises the overwhelming majority of the composition of the gospel. If the gospel were a combination of ingredients … “The identity of God” would comprise approximately 80% of the material.
From a clear understanding of who God is … outflows the simple logic that we … are different. We, when compared to God, we (means you and I) are not the same as God. That difference between us and God … is sin, which means to fall short. We fall short of Divine perfection in so many areas. We just cannot measure up. Due to our incapacity and inability to measure up to the fullness of who God is and what God expects us to do … we then, logically *earn* a position of separation. Two individuals, who are diametrically different in nature cannot be eternally united, except for Divine intervention. Therefore … we should naturally be distanced away from this “non-us” Person.
Let’s back up and get a brief, running start: the identity of God defines us as definitely different and therefore sinners deserving separation. The only hope is salvation through a qualified Substitute stepping in to pay, and fill up the deficiency which we cannot contribute.
The Gospel is worthy of our fullest attention. Because therein are we most aware of who God is, and who we are, and our function on earth, and our eternal position, if we allow.
Distracting our attention away from the pure fascination with this gospel results in horrendous consequences. We lose a clear definition of the gospel when we are distracted. We fade naturally toward separation and confusion. Without a clear and direct fixation upon the concepts in the Gospel, which are: 1) who God is and 2) who we are compared to Him and 3) what we deserve and 4) how He rescued us … without that clear fixation, we quagmire in our own confusion. We spin in circles trying to redefine ourselves. We are forced to reinvent a strange, non-gospel … because we’re avoiding the true Gospel. This strange, non-gospel eventually elevates ourselves to God-hood instead of rightfully allowing God to fill His place. By not focusing on the healthy-core gospel we become unhealthy and self-centered.
Self-serving people are self-destructive. Gospel-serving people are highly productive.
The single most productive activity I could ever participate in … is motivated from my fullness of attention on the identity of God and clearly seeing the precarious position of my fellow man … the action taken from this realization is simply reaching out to help explain salvation … is available. :) Delivering an understanding of how salvation functions is my job. If the Gospel be true, then one thing matters supremely: getting that knowledge out there to everyone, with maximal energy, so help us, God.
Focus on the gospel. This includes focusing on who God says God is. God claims to be the Creator. I need to evaluate that claim and decide whether it’s accurate. Can I disapprove it? Do I have a better solution? Or, can I give God permission to be who He claims to be regarding the forming of all things? If God is not my Creator, then how do all things continue? Why has not everything already become total chaos? The second law of thermodynamics states all things tend toward a state of ultimate chaos and deterioration. The only thing holding back a higher velocity of decline towards this ultimate unwinding would have to be the Originator and Designer of the complexity of life, exercising restraint.
Colossians 1:17 “And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.”
Hebrews 1:3 “… upholding all things by the word of His power”
Acts 17:28 “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being”
Acts 7:50 “Hath not My hand made all these things?”
Either God is the ultimate Maker and Sustainer of all things, or … I have to go hunting for some temporary, lesser substitute to fill that position, that void.
Scoffer says, “Wait, hold on just a second … I’ve been in church my whole life and I never heard this assumption that the ‘identity of God’ is somehow the foundation of the gospel. Where I come from, the gospel always starts with siiiin.”
Gentle answer, “Well sir, helpful question then: ‘How can one define and clearly communicate the concept of sin to a lost person without first fixating our eyes and mind and heart upon the Person we’re sinning against?’ We’re telling people they’re breaking the law … there must be a Lawmaker.”
“Hmmm 🧐.
Yeah, I guess … sure.
Go on ahead now.”
The world is not fully fixated and focused and rejoicing in the amazing gospel because we don’t think about it with sufficient time and worthiness.
The world is sleepily slogging along … yawning and barely coherent to the reality of eternity, a blink away, because believers are not bathing daily in the sunlight of the complete gospel.
Just think about it for a few minutes, please. Just focus your mind. Give God your heart. Really try to engage your emotion in the depth of meaning inside the gospel.
First, we’ll cover the ingredients:
God. He’s got to be included.
Sin. Comparing me to God … sin. My shortness.
Separation. Totally makes sense. What does separation feel like? What does separation do?
Salvation through the Son. He’s the only one. There is no other name. Single ticket. Zero alternatives, Tina.
Acceptance. Free will moral choice action. 1000% personal responsibility to evaluate and embrace the offer … or eviscerate the four-point presentation above by clear and personal rejection.
We pause to pray. “Please, Oh dear God our Guide, give us Your Spirit to discern Truth from non-truth. Help us to receive the Truth even and especially when the reception demands action. Give us the energy to keep up with Your pace. Satan hates exposure of his best plans. Please protect us from evil. Amen.”
Thinking upon those five points above … might as well start on number five, the part about personal responsibility of acceptance.
Satan hates God. That’s his designed purpose. Satan called a Congress … inviting all of his demon hordes into the Great Hall of Hell to brainstorm methods of attacking the gospel.
Evo was first up as a featured speaker. “As you know, I am Evo, inventor of attacking and replacing one of the core components of God‘s identity. I propose we double-down our efforts of removing Jehovah God as Creator and substituting my brain child of Evo … Lucian.” Moderate applause rippled through the hall. They had all heard his speech last year. The Congressional funding for Evo‘s project was a solid shoe-in. Obviously it was a good ploy but … Evo’s Lucian just wasn’t gaining traction in the polls. The metrics showed that most people were fully aware that Someone far superior to their own intellect had actually structured their being of their body and their surroundings. And that actually most humans believe there IS a ‘higher power’ responsible for the design and Creation of our universe. So Evo was not going to get increased funding for his pet project, because his lie had already pretty-much reached a maximum capacity.
Diluter was next on stage. “I’m here to give a report on how our delusion efforts are dulling the conscience of humanity. We try to make sin ‘less sinful’ by redefining it or sugarcoating it or kinda hiding the obvious consequences as appearing far-far down the road. We are forcing preachers to ‘pologize for calling certain actions ‘sin’. We’re structuring legislation to rename sin as ‘affirming care’, so people can feel real good about doing stupid. Our essential strategy is watering-down sin so that it appears inconsequential. Our messaging campaign is strong: ‘Do whatever you want, because there’s no consequences.’ We are here today in the Great Hall of Hell asking for additional funding resources to launch fresh campaigns to conquer and dilute new levels of sin.” About 20% of the crowd gave Diluter a standing ovation. And he did win a majority approval vote for additional funding.
Ridi stepped up to take his turn. “I am Ridi. Our team has been working very diligently, strategizing and implementing humor against this concept of eternal separation. We defuse that pressure of a Lake of Fire by directing mockery towards the Designer Himself. Accusing the Maker of Hell as being unloving, that’s been our best-performing campaign this year. We have a world tour rolling under the #Ridiculous … pointing out how ridiculous the whole concept of eternal punishment is. Recently we’ve gained some momentum with our #HellAlready campaign, which basically convinces people that their current condition is as bad as it’s gunna get. And we’re just asking for fresh round of blood-money for our marketing efforts.”
Karine got up to briefly apologize next. “Speaking on behalf of the Hell House and are beloved president Beelzebub… Regarding the fourth element of the gospel…The reason we are restructuring our efforts to throw shade on this … Person whose name we will not mention here because His presence kinda makes us tremble … recently we’ve seen declining success in attacking the claims or the person of the One, because the more we throw accusations at Him, the more people get interested in who He actually is. So we’re currently recommending that we withdraw support from efforts to criticize the Unnamed One. Instead we’re just going to sue for billions of dollars anyone who dares to get on social media and proclaim unfiltered truth. And we don’t have time for questions today.” And with that, she folded her notebook and stepped away.
Then Satan himself got up to ramble on a bit.
“Thank you for those encouraging reports. We remain optimistic … although somewhat stagnant in our efforts to slow the spread of the Gospel this year. It’s been a tough year for us, as you know. And now we open the floor for new ideas.”
“Anybody… How are we going to suppress this gospel? No one? Are we going to give up? Have we tried everything? It seems airtight, iron clad, this presentation they keep spreading. I challenge you deamons to come up with a good deception!”
The brain cells were wizzing in the head of Sir Slithery Sid the Snake.
He arrived at a moment of clarity by rapid-fire listing off all the impossibilities to arrive at the one thing possible.
We tried and failed at burning all the Bibles.
Too tough to corrupt all the preachers.
Killing the witnesses is troublesome.
I got it! Breakthrough moment!
We must corrupt Christianity from the inside somehow. “I got it!!!” Shouted Sid the slither-tongue serpent. The shout got the attention of the head demon. “Whatchew got thar, Sid?”
“I will be a lying tongue in the pen of the theology textbook writers. I was reading the other day how Augustine thought that somehow God overpowered people at the point of New Birth and made the decision of salvation for them. I’m going to revitalize that perversion by persuading a guy named Calvin to think his ticket to notoriety is … rewriting Augustine‘s garbage with a fresh frosting on top. We will call it ‘deformed Christianity!’”
Satan interrupted him. “Hmmm. That actually … sounds really cool, Sid. That’s a nifty angle you got there. Good attack. It’s subtle. Reminds me of my days in the garden. But I don’t know if the rest of the believing world is gonna go for that label of ‘deformed Christianity.’ Maybe we should just re-form that branding slightly.” (Chuckles hideously.)
Sid slithered sideways and kept-on a-saying, “All we’ve got to do is convince the witnesses, you know, the gospel-carriers themselves that accepting the gospel is not a personal responsibility. It’s not really anyone’s choice. It‘s kind of chosen for them. That’s genius, if I say so myself. Let’s just roll with it. Let’s write a bill and request $2 trillion of funding from Hell‘s Congress to push this junk out on the world. Make sure everyone gets quadruple boosted with… um … what did you say we are we gonna call it? …” Slithery Sid slipped his forked tongue to thay … 🐍 “Calvinithim.”
Calvin is corrosive.
Attack the gospel at the point of acceptance! Such Dark brilliance!
Thereby alleviating the powerful pause of personal preponderance … that unique space of time when I am compelled to accept or reject God‘s free offer.
Poor Calvin, looking back down now at his contributions to Earth from the perspective of Heaven … Calvin is no longer a fan of his efforts to twist and stretch the illustrations in Scripture to a cartoonish, balloonish extravagance.
None of the gospel makes sense if it’s not my job to accept it. If God “accepts the gospel for me” then I’m out. I tap. I give. My being is literally obliterated from being. What’s the point? Love … apart from intention to love, cannot be love.
The current success of Satan‘s suppression of the spread of the gospel can be largely attributed to Sid’s suggestion to promote the concept of limited personal responsibility.
The slight-of-hand in Calvinism is over-thinking an illustration to an outlandish level. For example:
Colossians 3:3 says, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
Fairly straightforward. But are you dead? Are you literally dead right now ? The Bible says, “ye are dead.” Does that mean you’re dead? Calvin would just roll with that analogy; he would totally stretch it until you kinda had to be dead. And if you weren’t dead, he would make sure you were dead by the time he was done. Stretch it beyond the max until the illustration literally snaps. “Maybe you are so dead that you never were alive. Maybe you were just destined to death. Maybe you are so hidden with God and so dead that you’re not even you.” It’s silly. We’re talking about middle school level over-exaggeration and hyper-imagination that extracts more than is present from a simple illustration. An illustration can only carry a truth so far. That’s by design.
If there’s a workout gym in heaven, and anyone is allowed to do moderate-level combat sports … the apostle Paul has probably invited Calvin into the octagon, and while doing some sparring, and in a good, clean natured fun, just smacked Calvin across the jaw because of how he contorted to unrecognizability the illustrations Paul gave in his letter to the Romans, under inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
Calvin twisted the fire out of Romans, like a skilled mixed martial artist can pop the joints and tendons of his opponent.
Calvin did not have personal inspiration or organic outflow of such perversion from himself, no. Mr. C had to go steal these doctrines of devils from Augustine … who gladly received suggestions from the tongue of Sir Sid. And before you get excited or repulsed by my level of acid toward this Gospel-corruption, let me just please explain for a few minutes who Calvin was. And we quote from an article:
“Jesus’ teaching to ‘love your enemies’ didn’t stop Calvin from approving and promoting the death of his theological enemies. And Paul’s instruction for dealing with people who theologically disagree with you were equally ignored: 2 Timothy 2:24,25 says, “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.” Calvin did not patiently discuss his differences with people who promoted competing ideas. Calvin requested beheadings, made death threats, and praised God for orchestrating the long torture of heretics.
Calvin spelled out his theologically-reinforced vengeance in a personal letter:
“I am persuaded that it is not without the special will of God that, apart from any verdict of the judges, the criminals have endured protracted torment at the hands of the executioner.” ~ Calvin's letter to Farel on 24th July (for more words directly from Calvin’s pen, read Selected Works of John Calvin)
Calvin believed God made sure ‘theological criminals’ didn’t die quickly when tortured.”*
The core magnetic draws of Calvinism are two-fold …
Number one: hyper-stretched analogies (which make the stretcher think their imagination is just something to be admired).
Number two, personal lethargy.
Corrupt Christianity with the cancer of lethargy. Appease the potential energy of ‘gospel-goers’ by alleviating responsibility … and just go … kinda less often. Keep the pressure low. After all … “It’s not our fault. It’s not our responsibility. Gospel distribution is not our direct commission. It’s 1000% God‘s fault. God chose. God pre-chose. So I don’t even have to go to work today. I don’t have to get up and go tell someone. I don’t have to do nuthin’. Because my God preselected certain people to be winners and certain people to be losers. At least that’s what Calvin’s writings coddled me into believing. I feel safe now, knowing I do not have to participate in a meaningful or urgent way. Going with the Gospel sounds stressful.”
Now certainly the Calvinist will say we’re still “supposed to” go because we don’t know whether the lost person will receive the teaching or not. But in the second half of that same paragraph, the same person will say there is very little if any urgency because if we don’t go … somehow God‘s gonna use rocks or trees or some other secret agent to get His message across. Zero mathematical explanation provided of how the world will be reached within a set timeframe by using these mystical, alternative delivery crews. There’s no timeline. There’s no statistics to back up the theory of ‘mystical missionaries’ … we say mystical because they’re missing: they don’t exist. When I don’t deliver the gospel personally, this precious person might not hear the truth. Ever again.
Lethargy is the curse.
It’s an attitude of defeat.
What does this mindset smell like?
Saying stuff like this:
“This corrupt world was dying and going to Hell before I was born, and it will still be headed for Hell well after I’m gone.”
Webster’s 1828 definition of LETH'ARGY, noun [comes from Greek: oblivion + idle. (Idleness for ever)]
1. Preternatural [above normal] sleepiness; morbid drowsiness; continued or profound sleep, from which a person can scarcely be awaked, and if awakened, remains stupefied.
2. Dullness; inaction; inattention.
We did’t write it. But we do recite it.
There are two options when presented with truth. Action or inaction. Embrace responsibility or roll over and face the wall and go back to sleep.
Truth is that which conforms me to Jesus. Truth is a two-edged sword that when presented right to my face, demands a decision. I either grow and become more conformed to the image of Christ or … I move intentionally in the opposite direction.
The Gospel needs goers and carriers, by design.
Jesus invested the majority of His ministry waking hours in the crowd with the people.
Jesus is our model for living. He established the pattern of excellence. Zero room for laziness in the life of Christ. Jesus could have selected any employment opportunity. He could have worked in an office, on the 14th floor. Christ could have done anything at all that He wanted … as a profession from age 12 (when Jewish boys were declared men) up until his public ministry, beginning at age 30. That’s a span of 18 years.
Christ chose woodworking tools. Woodworking is not for pansies or snowflakes. The sawdust can be irritating. Slivers are going to happen. The heaviness of hauling trees is intense. Imagine the attention to detail required in hand-crafting and carving raw material lumber into usable elements such as furniture or homes … carpentry is not a profession for the lazy. Hand saws. Sanding. Fastening. Engineering. Carpentry is masculine, intensive, tough-guy stuff.
Similarly, ministering to people will drain every drop of whatever energy you thought you had, and then some.
Followers can smell industriousness or laziness in their leader.
No one accused Christ of being a lazy minister. He was out there, with the people. Our Shepherd smelled like sheep.
Every action and thought of Christ was always & only pleasing to the Father and filled to overflowing with the Spirit. The Spirit of Christ is the exact opposite of the spirit of Calvinism and Lethargy. “Let the lost burn then,” would never come out of the mouth of Christ. I’m on team Jesus for several reasons, but we’ll just focus on one. I like the smell of sweat and energy being exuded from wholehearted effort toward accomplishing good with God on pace. God is not lazy. Keep up. And neither are His best servants. This is work.
Calvinism reeks of self-justification and excuses. “I don’t have to go work in the field because my Daddy’s gonna do all the work, whether I show up or not.” Calling it out. That’s straight laziness. That stinks. That attitude is rotten. That smells more like Hell than Heaven.
True Christ-filled Christianity is diligent. Love-driven. Focused. Motivated strongly by compassion. Moved to action. Mark 6:34 “And Jesus, when He came out, saw much people, and was *moved* with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and He began to teach them many things.”
Top reason the gospel is not going forth: laziness.
Close second place reason: excuses.
Solution:
Smell more like Christ than Calvin.
Eliminate and replace with obedience every possible excuse for not going and delivering this good news 🗞!
*Source quote:
https://www.reenactingtheway.com/blog/john-calvin-had-people-killed-and-bad-bible-interpretation-justified-it